V. STIVIANO: Donald Sterling's galpal was pummeled by two men who shouted racial slurs at her outside a restaurant in the Meatpacking District Sunday night, her lawyer claimed. Funny that should happen right after a video of her own racial remarks surfaced.

AFGHANISTAN: The sense of pride expressed by officials of the Obama administration at the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is not shared by many of those who served with him, veterans and soldiers who call him a deserter whose "selfish act" ended up costing the lives of better men.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:Maleficent tops the chart with 70 million, an overperformance that suggests it may be profitable on its 180 million budget, particularly as audiences appear to be more forgiving than the critics, handing out an "A" ConemaScore. X-Men: Days of Future Past places with 32 million; that 64 percent drop is steep, but the mutants already haveover 500 million in worldwide sales. The debut of A Million Ways to Die in the West shows with 17 million, which may not be bad against a 40 million budget....but the heavy marketing campaign is not included in that figure. Godzilla grabs the fourth slot with 12.2 million on a 60 percent drop; the big lizard has roughly 375 million total worldwide so far, with China and Japan yet to come. Blended rounds out the Top 5 with 8.4 million on a 41 percent drop; this one may not see profits until well into the home market.

PRIMAVERA SOUND FESTIVAL is streaming two channels of live music, including the Pixies, The National, !!!, Drive-By Truckers, Dr. John and The Nite Trippers, Sharon Van Etten, and more. Check the link for times.

THE POSIES do a little bit of "Black Night" before covering Chris Bell's "I Am the Cosmos."

OWEN PALLETT talks to PopMatters about how he created some of the most affecting songs in In Conflict, discussed the “affectation” he uses to be a more efficient producer and talked about why the Oscars should take note from the spirit of Canadian award shows.

ANNA CALVI talks to The Guardian about learning from touring with Nick Cave and more...

THE CUTOUT BIN: From Led Zeppelin to Chris isaak, from the Bangles to Steely Dan, from Bill Joel to Billy Idol, plus Love, Guided by Voices, Smashing Pumpkins, CreamMaleficient, which is currently scoring and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

VENEZUELA alleged on Wednesday that the U.S. ambassador to Colombia has plotted to destabilize President Nicolas Maduro's rule, adding to tensions between the two countries as the U.S. House approved a measure calling for sanctions on officials in the South American nation over human rights abuses.

LIBYA: <font id="Zoom">The United States suggested on Tuesday that its citizens leave Libya "immediately" due to "unpredictable and unstable" security situation in the North African nation.

SYRIA: The Obama administration is considering authorizing a US military mission to train allegedly moderate Syrian rebels.

UKRAINE: A battle between pro-Russia separatists and government forces at Donetsk airport in eastern Ukraine has claimed 40 lives, authorities said Tuesday, in what is the deadliest outbreak of violence yet in the flashpoint city.